Police destroy carpentry shop in Netiv Ha'avot

Gush Etzion Regional Council Head says demolitions harm Israel's sovereignty, are due to loss of control.

Arutz Sheva Staff, 29/11/17 08:48 | updated: 09:18

Netiv Ha'avot

Netiv Ha'avot Headquarters

Israeli security forces began destroying the carpentry shop in the Samarian town of Elazar's Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood, an IDF source reported.

Security forces are working to complete the demolition while ensuring security, law, and order.

According to the IDF, the demolitions are being carried out "as per the request of the political echelon."

The carpentry shop is one of seventeen buildings slated for destruction. The other demolitions are scheduled for March 2018.

Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne'eman said, "It's very said that we have reached this moment. We've lost control and we've lost sovereignty. People tell us that this is 'the rule of law' but really, i's a loss of control and the destruction of law. Not only will the physical buildings be destroyed this morning; the law that a nation is sovereign in its own land will also be harmed by the bulldozers."

"Seventy years ago, the nations of the world recognized our right to create the State of Israel. On that day, Gush Etzion began its last battle - the battle for Jerusalem. It's time the Israeli government recognize the fact that Israel controls every part of this land. There is no better place to begin applying our sovereignty than Gush Etzion, which walks in the paths of its fathers." (Netiv Ha'avot literally means 'the path of the fathers.')

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved a deal which may save six of the fifteen homes slated for destruction. According to Mandelblit's plan, the parts of the homes which are built on private Arab land will be sawed off. These homes will then be given temporary building permits, effectively legalizing them.